The 2020 C W Ferguson Cabernet Malbec is brilliant. Polished tannins protect a core of glistening fruit, with notes of cassis, ironstone, iodine, raspberry, licorice and brine. This is dark and statuesque but sleek and powerful, too. It is very good! Excellent. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

This 2017 C W Ferguson Cabernet Malbec is a commanding wine and shows the grit, density and concentration of fruit and tannin in Frankland River. The cooler vintage (and the benefit of five years under the belt) has imbued in this wine an elegance and restraint that can be hard to find some years. This is excellent, and it will live for many years.

Coming from select parcels in Frankland and Mount Barker, the 2007 C.W. Ferguson Cabernet Malbec gives a deep garnet-purple color and earthy aromas of loam and truffles over creme de cassis and game, plus some black olive and Mediterranean herbs. Concentrated yet elegant, medium to full bodied and complex with a high level of acidity and medium to firm fine tannins to support, this young wine was just a joy to taste right through to its long savory finish. It’s approachable now but will be best 2012 to 2020+. In my student days one of my favorite tipples was the old Houghton’s White Burgundy. Of course now the name has had to change (as has my palate, thankfully), and the same wine under its new label didn’t quite make the grade here. The estate, now under the auspices of Constellation’s empire, does however continue to produce some absolutely cracking reds that are most definitely worth hunting-down. Under the Constellation Brands umbrella, Houghton is not currently available in the USA. www.cwines.com.au